Bowling ball retarder



Nov. 2, 1954 R. l. ANDERSON BOWLING BALL RETARDER 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed July 25, 1951 In #221 Z ar fioerlffflizde r 011/ 3 8'ZAdZ I Nov. 2, 1954 R. l. ANDERSON 2,693,359

BOWLING BALL RETARDER Filed July 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 05 e riZ Fizz/6:1 am

United States Patent BOWLING- 1mm.

Robert. It Anderson, Mich asaignnrrtm TheillrunswickrllalkeqCollender- (item, as corporation; of Delaware ApplicatlonJuly-ZS, ,1951, ,Serlal. Nor-15.854445 6*Claiins. (Cl; fly-47);

This invention. relates. to: a. retarderi and; more. particularly to a ball. retarder; capable. of; intercepting. alldflthene subsequently, releasing;.,howling ,ballscfiivariraus. sizes...

It is, the general".obiect..of*thisrinvention.to. prodll'uze at. new andimprovedballretarden.

It. is common inibowling alleysatoaproyide. assingler main return track; for.-. bowling bans... which. serves. twoadjacent alleys. Accordingly; its inner. unusual" to, have two bowling balls ,returneisimultaneously.along tlietraokr one closely followingtlie others. it..is.customary; to provide,somesomoilbalLretartlrtr ontble ballrstorage. rack to reduce th'eyeloci'ty ofiareturnedilballto practically zero, before permitting, it to; enter. therstorage .rack, such-z devices.v normally, are... designed. to. retard? only: at. single ball,;1 .andl should. a. balti'n. such device. he. strucl'tbiy' a closely following. ball,". .tlie first'b'all projectediwithe some; force. into thest'orage rack, giv se;to .the possibility; of 'injury to. players.who-might.at,.that.moment.be.,select=. ing a ball from the racks Accordingly it is-a.more...specifioobject ofltliis-invention. to produce. a. hall. .retarder capabletoi retarding alllofia. plurality of balls following. each, other; iniclose. sequence. along. a..return. track; andithusrpreventing then-possibility, of any ball in,the.retarderbe" g proiected.ontothestorage rack in a manner to cause iniur The normal bowling alley. 1s'..qnite; adaptableior user in playin tenpins, fivepins or dnckpins. lnasmuchuasstfie. balls usedljfor various bowliirggames-areof unequalisi'ae,. those; for, tenpins, being the. largestiand. .thoseioriduckpins. being smaller, itoften; occurs;thatreturnedlballs are. either.

of the largesizevtlie smallEsizeorrofiimixedjsizes... This;v

creates, the additional problem oflfprovidinga device not only; capable; of retarding a. plurality; of.bal1s;butl also. capableof handling b'alls of [b.otli the-tlarge-eandmthersmall. size in any sequence:

It. is therefore. anotherr object. oi. his; invention to. produce. a. ball. retarding devicetwhichis.capableroflretard ing. a plurality. ofiballs'i oi. both the=.larg ,e..andismalllsize, and; in, all cases-1 serving to preventrcollision between: retarded. balls. in sucha manner-as .t'o propelv anyballl'with: force ,onto the storage track; I

Another. object, of the invention. is ,tomproduce; aball retarder which. isprovided' with: a;.-.pi.votally mounted cradle carrying means at .eachjendiior intercepting, a large 52111,. with the.,means.. atthfirear. end. of. the cradle being normally located... in intercepting position. relative. to. a large ,balltraveling from. the; return. tracklito. the storage: rack;.and'-the. .cradle.,.being pivotableeunder. thewei ht. of the ball-retarded by. the. rear. intercepting means .to a, position. raising thefrontf. intercepting means into. blocking, on, intercepting;- relationship. to. a following. large ball travelingalong. the. track, the. device including, additional means. for.v retarding, a. small... ball... together. with means moved; upon the: retardationr ofgaz. small, ball, into. intercepting relationship, to. a! following small ball and. also. afollowing large. ball...

.Yet another. objectof; the inventionti'sto produce a ball retarding .deyice. ofi'thetype descril'afedjnthe-preceding paragraph. which includsa .small-Ilialllstop .arm normally positioned) in.intercepting relationship; to. thetrack'. to intercept a-rsrnallv balljincombiiiatibmwitha rocker. arm having; means for intercepting a.follbwing large or. small ball; and. movedlby. th interception of a small. ball into. intercepting relatibnshrpto. atollowing balll.

A' .further. object .ofithaihventibn to; produce. a ball retardingflevicens.descrihedlin. lietpreceding paragraphs;

having means biasingthe cradle andithesmalfiball stop. arm towardtheir normal) position in whichthe inter,- cepting means on the small-'ball stop; arm andthe. intercepting means on the rear portionofthe. cradle are both.

locatedin intercepting position'relative.topballs moving; along theztrack'; together withhmeans dampening; movement-of" the small balljstopzarm and" the cradleout of? their normal positions under them influence. of. a ball' interceptedthereby; v

Other. and further objects off the invention: will be readily apparent from the following description. and drawings; in which:

Figure. iris a side elevation shoWingthe b'allfretzirder ofrth'is invention asinstalledii'n a bowling alley return track-Figure 2 is an enlarged ,detailed view of the retarder shown in Figure 1;;Figurev 3 is a top planview ofthe retarder of Figure 2g and Figure 4is1a' vertical sectionthrouglr substantially the center of 'the retarder shown. in Figure3.

While this invention issusceptible of embodimentt'in. many different forms, there is" shown in the drawings and will herein biezdescribed in. d'et'ailone' specific embodiment, with the understanding that the; present disclosure is'to be. consideredtas an exem'plification ofjthe principlesof: the invention and-is not intended to limitrthe. invention to tl-le embodimentillustra'ted. The scope of the invention will be pointed 'out'in the. appended claims,

Referring now' to the drawings, there is shown. a portion of'the'inclined'retnrn track 10 along which returned balls?travel,the-return v trackzterminating at a portion 11 sharply inclined upwardly so as to. decrease the. speed of a returned ball. The" traclc terminates in a main, storage raclc 12"; upon: which balls roll after passing. through the retarding device, andbeneath the main storage 'rack is a secondary storage rack 13" uponwhich additional balls may be; stored. Connecting tl're portion 11' of the track with thestorage rack" 12* is a portion 1.4 inclined" gently-downwardly to impart sufiicient energy;

to "a ball' thereon to' enable itto-pass through' theretard i'ng: device; generally, indicated-at 15, of this invention.-

The retarder includes a cradle .16 comprising two side plates 17' and I8S'CCIII'Cd1fOgpflT6I'I'bY'IOdS, 19 and"20: Bracket members, generally i'ndicated at" 21,. rotatably carrythe: rod20 sons to provide fora pivotal'mounv ing forthe cradle about the rod20 asits axis; The rear portion 22Iot'v the. cradle is provided'with means for intercepting and retarding alarge ball rolling;alongthe track portion 14; the means taking the. form ofa pair-of resilient'rollers" 233 secured near the: top: ofthie rear' portion 22.. The front-porti'on-24 of -the;'cradle is also providedv with: intercepting and blocking-means for avl'arge ball taking the'form' ofa'secondpair of resilient rollers 25 secured near'thetop of that'portion. Atthe bottom of the; front portion-there is'located-a counterweight '26Jwl'1'ich is normally sufficient to' rock the cradle about the axis- 20 to its normal "operating positionillustrated in Figures 2 and 4-. In-the normal position the rollers 23; are located in intercepting; relationship with regard 'to.a,; large; bowlingball rolling along the track" 14, while the rollers 25 -on the frontportion are located in recesses 27 in.the track and out-0t intercepting position to'permit a ball freelytopassthereover: Asecond pair of recesses 28 is provided inwthe' track to receivethe rollers 23 when the cradle-ispivotedabout its axis to release a large ball intercepted thereby.

In, order. to arrest'small balls. rolling-along the track, there is provided a small-ball stop arm 30'which is pivoted' at 31 to the side plates 17 and18- and. carries at' one end a counterweight 32' sufficiently heavy to tilt'the other end 33 of the stop arm tothe. normal position shown in Figures 2' and 4 inwhich resilient rollers 3.4',v carried. by the end 33, are positioned to; intercept a small ball, such as a fivepin ball or d'uckpir'r ball, rolling along the track.

It is believed to. be clear from. the foregoin-g that should a large ball, such as the ball 35sh0Wr1 in Figure 1, roll along the track. 14; its progress will be. arrested by the intercepting rollers 23 onthe cradle to halt the ball; The. weight of. the ball is, suflicient' to tilt the cradle abiout' .itsaxis. until. the rear portion- 22'has been rotatedhtoa positionwhere the intercepting rollers 23' 3 are received in the recesses 28 and no longer serve to arrest progress of the ball, whereupon the ball 35 may roll gently out onto the storage rack 12. coincidental with the downward movement of the rear portion 22 of the cradle, the front portion 24 is pivoted upwardly to bring the intercepting rollers 25 thereon above the track 14 and in position to intercept a second large ball, such as the ball 36, closely following the ball 35. After the ball 35 has been released, the cradle then rotates to its normal position, releasing the ball 36 from the rollers 25 and permitting it to roll into contact with the rollers 23 whereupon the process of retarding the ball and then releasing it is repeated.

A small ball, following a large ball which is intercepted by the rollers 23, will be intercepted by a rocker arm 50 hereinafter more fully described.

Similarly, a small ball rolling along the track 14, while passing over the rollers 25and under the rollers 23, is arrested by the rollers 34 on the small-ball stop arm 30 and held thereby until its weight rotates the arm 30 about its pivot to a position where the rollers 34 are received in an opening 37 in the track and no longer interfere with progress of the ball so that it may then roll out upon the storage rack.

In order to dampen movement of the cradle and the stop arm, means are provided which resiliently resist pivotal movement of either of those devices in response to the weight of a ball retarded thereby. In the specific embodiment chosen for illustration, the means for damping movement of those devices is in the form of a dashpot 40 including a cylinder 41 having its lower end pivotally mounted at 42 to a bracing member 43 for the retarding device. is a piston-44 provided with a piston rod 45 pivotally connected at 46 to the small-ball stop arm intermediate the pivot point 31 of that arm and the intercepting rollers 34. The cylinder 41 may be filled with fluid, preferably oil, and the piston is provided with the usual check valve arrangement 47 to permit rapid upward movement of the piston in the cylinder, but to permit only slow downward movement of the piston therein. In order to assist in the upward movement of the piston andto assist in the restoration of both the cradle and the stop arm to their normal positions, a compression spring 48 is located in the lower end of the cylinder and bears against the bottom of the piston 44 therein, constantly urging the piston upwardly within the cylinder.

It will be noted that the stop arm 30 is provided with an angular portion 49, the interior side of which engages the tie rod 19, thus connecting the dashpot arrangement 40 to the cradle 16. Thus, as the rear portion 22 of the cradle is pivoted downwardly under the weight of a large ball, the small-ball stop arm 30 is moved downwardly with it by contact of the tie rod 19 with the inside of the angular portion 49, and thus downward movement of the rear portion 22 of the cradleis dampened by the action of the dashpot. It is, of course,

necessary that both the rear portion of the cradle and the stop arm be pivoted downwardly to permit a large ball to pass from the retarding device onto the storage rack 12. the cradle to be pivoted in order that a small ball be allowed to pass onto the storage rack, and it will be noted that the small-ball stop arm may pivot downwardly under the influence of a small ball arrested thereby and against the damping action of the dashpot without necessitating or causing simultaneous pivotal movement of the cradle.

In order to prevent a second large or small ball from striking a first small ball held in the retarding device, a rocker arm 56 is provided along the center section of the track 14. The rocker arm is pivoted to the track framework at 51 and is provided with a front portion 52 carrying intercepting means in the form of a pair of rollers 53 normally positioned in a recess 54 formed in the center section of the track. The rear portion 55 of the rocker arm is angularly displaced relative to the front portion so as to extend upwardly through, an opening 56 in the track in position to be contacted by a small ball as it is intercepted by the rollers 34 or a large ball as it is intercepted by the rollers 23. Contact of a ball with the portion 55 of the rocker arm rotates the arm about its pivot 51 to raise the rollers 53 above the track and in position to intercept-a following ball rolling along the track 14. The rollers 53, being posi- Reciprocable within the cylinder 41' It is unnecessary for the rear portion 22 of tioned in the center. of the track, not only serve to stop a following small ball, but will also arrest a following large ball so as to prevent a ball of any size from striking a small ball which has been intercepted by the small ball intercepting means 34, When a small ball has been released by the intercepting means, the rocker arm 50 is pivoted, by virtue of the heavier weight of the forward portion 52, to its normal position, allowing a following ball to roll rearwardly and be retarded either by the means 23 on the cradle should it be a large ball, or by the means '34 on the stop armshould it be a small ball. 7

I claim:

1. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball .retarder for individual balls of different sizes, comprising, a cradle mounted adjacent said track for rotation about a horizontal axis substantially at right angles to the track, said cradle having a rear portion and a front portion on opposite sides of said axis, means on each portion'for'intercepting a large ball with the means 'on the rear portion 'being in intercepting position and the means on the front portion being in non-intercepting position when 'the cradle is in normal position, a small-ball stop'arm mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the first mentioned axis, means on said arm for interceptinga small ball when the arm is in normal position, means including interengaging parts on the cradle and stop arm and dampening means connected to the stop arm for dampening movement of the cradle when said cradle is engaged by a large ball, means for urging the cradle and the arm into normal position, said last named means being of insufficient strength to' hold the cradle or the arm in normal position when a ball has been intercepted thereby, whereby to permit a large ,ball to rock the cradle about its axis to release the same while simultaneously moving the intercepting means on the front portion into a position to intercept a following large ball, and to permit a small ball to rock the arm about its axis to release the same, and a rocker arm pivotally movable about an axis parallel to the other axes and having an actuating portion at one end thereof normally positioned along the track and just ahead of the intercepting means on said small-ball stop arm to be contacted by a small ball or large ball moving along the track to pivot the other end of the rocker arm from a non-intercepting position to a position to intercept a following large or small ball while the first said ball is substantially simultaneously being intercepted by said small-ball stop arm if a small ball or by the cradle if a large ball.

2. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball retarder for individual balls of different sizes, comprising, a cradle mounted adjacent said track for rotation about a horizontal axis substantially at right angles to the track, said cradle having a rear portion and a front portion on opposite sides of said axis, means on each portion for intercepting a large ball with the means on the rear portion being in intercepting position when the cradle is in normal position, a small-ball stop arm mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the first mentioned axis, means on said arm for intercepting a small ball when the arm is in normal position, means on the rear portion of the cradle for engaging the arm to pivot the arm to non-intercepting position with pivotal movement of the rear portion of the cradle to non-intercepting position, means for dampening movement of the arm away from normal position and also the cradlethrough said arm engaging means, means for urging the cradle and the arm into normal position, both of said last two named means being of insufficient strength to hold the cradle or the arm in normal position when a ball has been intercepted thereby, whereby to permit a large ball to rock the cradle about its axis to release the same while simultaneously moving the intercepting means on the front portion into a position to intercept a following large ball, and to permit a small ball to rock the arm about its axis to release the same.

3. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball retarder for individual balls of diffe'rent sizes, comprising, a cradle mounted adjacent said track for rotation about a horizontal axis substantially at right angles to the track, said cradle having a rear portion and a front portion on opposite sides of said axis, means on each portion for intercepting a large ball with the means on the rear portion being in intercepting position when the cradle is in normal position, a small-ball stop arm mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the first mentioned axis, means on said arm for intercepting a small ball when the arm is in normal position, means on the rear portion of the cradle for engaging the arm to pivot the arm to non-intercepting position with pivotal movement of the rear portion of the cradle to non-intercepting position, a dashpot connected to the stop arm to dampen movement of the cradle and the arm away from normal position, means for urging the cradle and the arm 1 into normal position, said dashpot and said last named means being of insufficient strength to hold the cradle or the arm in normal position when a ball has been intercepted thereby, whereby to permit a large ball to rock the cradle about its axis to release the same while simultaneously moving the intercepting means on the front portion into a position to intercept a following large ball, and to permit a small ball to rock the arm about its axis to release the same.

4. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball retarder for individual balls of different sizes, comprising, a cradle mounted adjacent said track for rotation about a horizontal axis substantially at right angles to the track, said cradle having a rear portion and a front portion on opposite sides of said axis, a pair of resilient rollers on each portion for intercepting a large ball with the rollers on the rear portion being in intercepting position and the rollers on the front portion being in non-intercepting position when the cradle is in normal position, a weight on the front portion to bias the cradle toward its normal position, a small-ball stop arm mounted intermediate its ends for rotation about an axis parallel to the first mentioned axis, a pair of resilient rollers mounted on one end of said arm and positioned to intercept a small ball when the stop arm is in normal position, a weight on the other end of the stop arm to bias the arm toward its normal position, means on the rear portion of the cradle for engaging the arm to pivot the arm out of normal position with pivotal movement of the cradle out of normal position, a dashpot connected to the stop arm to dampen movement of the cradle and the stop arm, with the dashpot and the biasing weights being insuflicient to hold the cradle or the arm in normal position when a ball has been intercepted thereby, whereby to permit a large ball to rock the cradle about its axis to release the same while simultaneously moving the intercepting means on the front portion into a position to intercept a following large ball, and to permit a small ball to rock the arm about its axis to release the same.

5. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball retarder for individual balls of different sizes, comprising, a cradle mounted adjacent said track for rotation about a horizontal axis substantially at right angles to the track, said cradle having a front portion and a rear portion on opposite sides of said axis, a pair of resilient rollers on each portion for intercepting a large ball with the rollers on the rear portion being in intercepting position and the rollers on the front portion being in non-intercepting position when the cradle is in normal position, a weight on the front portion to bias the cradle toward its normal position, a

small-ball stop arm mounted intermediate its ends for rotation about an axis parallel to the first mentioned axis, a pair of resilient rollers mounted on one end of said arm and positioned to intercept a small ball when the stop arm is in normal position, a weight on the other end of the stop arm to bias the arm toward its normal position, means on the rear portion of the cradle for engaging the arm to pivot the arm out of normal position with pivotal movement of the cradle out of normal position, a dashpot connected to the stop arm to dampen movement of the cradle and the stop arm, with the dashpot and the biasing weights being insufficient to hold the cradle or the arm in normal position when a ball has been intercepted thereby, whereby to permit a large ball to rock the cradle about its axis to release the same while simultaneously moving the intercepting means on the front portion into a position to intercept a following large ball, and to permit a small ball to rock the arm about its axis to release the same, and a rocker arm mounted intermediate its ends for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to said other axes, said rocker arm having a front portion extending forwardly of its axis and a rear portion extending rearwardly of said axis, with the front portion carrying a roller adapted to intercept a large or small ball and being heavier than the rear portion to pivot the rocker arm to its normal position with the roller on the front portion thereof in non-intercepting position and with the rear portion positioned along the track just ahead of the rollers on the small-ball stop arm to be contacted by a large or small ball moving therealong, such large or small ball serving upon contact with the rear portion of the rocker arm to pivot said rocker arm out of normal position to locate the rollers on the front portion thereof in position to intercept a following large or small ball and such large or small ball serving to maintain the rocker arm out of normal position until release of the small ball by the small-ball stop arm or release of the large ball by the cradle.

6. In a bowling alley structure including a ball return track, a bowling ball retarder for individual balls of different sizes, comprising, a rotatable cradle mounted adjacent the track and having a large-ball retarding portion and a large-ball blocking portion, a rotatable smallball stop arm pivotally mounted independently of said cradle and adjacent the track for retarding a small ball, said cradle and stop arm being rotatable about parallel axes, means including disengageable parts on the cradle and arm connecting said cradle and arm for movement of said arm with the cradle by engagement of said parts and for movement of said arm independently of said cradle, and means connected to the arm for dampening movement of said arm and cradle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,292,753 Gerald Aug. 11, 1942 2,297,330 Schoepfer Sept. 29, 1942 2,530,429 Hedenskoog Nov. 21, 1950 2,566,109 Anderson Aug. 28, 1951 2,627,409 Breen Feb. 3, 1953 

